


It Was Love

by oneofthreenerds



Category: Pentatonix, Superfruit
Genre: Angst, Based on a LANY song, Hopeful Ending, Kinda, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 17:31:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13323048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneofthreenerds/pseuds/oneofthreenerds
Summary: What if you find your person but you aren’t theirs?





	It Was Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thedarknesswithin (babylxxrry)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/babylxxrry/gifts).



> For Joce, who requested something like this all the way back in September. Love you.

“What if you find your person but you aren’t theirs?”

Scott startled at the question, propping himself up on his elbows to look at Mitch, who was settled at Scott’s desk. “What?”

“Like. What if you find who you’re in love with, but they’re in love with someone else?”

“Well. First of all, you’re perfect. Anyone would be insane not to love you back.” Scott rolled onto his side, propping his head up with his hand. “And second, I think that people are capable of loving more than one person in a lifetime.”

“Well, duh. People get remarried all the time. But, like, soulmates.”

“I think you can have more than one of those, too.”

“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a soulmate?”

Scott smiled and let his head drop back onto his pillow. “Nah. You change, too. Maybe someone’s your soulmate while you’re younger and then you grow up and change and find another soulmate.”

“Huh. I’ve never thought about it like that.”

“Either way, you can always just marry me if the whole soulmate thing doesn’t work out.”

“Sounds good to me!”

~

“I love you so fucking much.”

“God, I love you, too, Mitchy. I really, really do.”

Scott watched a content smile spread over Mitch’s face. “You’re my other half, Scott. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Definitely not pass trig.”

Mitch swiped at Scott’s chest. “I was trying to be sweet and now you’ve ruined it.”

Scott caught Mitch in his arms and pulled him in close. “I’m sorry, baby. You’re my other half, too. I love you so much.”

Mitch melted into Scott. “Forever and always.”

“Mmhm. Do you want me to come over tonight?”

“Always. Mom and Dad are out of town, so just come whenever you can.”

“All right, baby. I’ll be there.”

~

“Scott.”

“Give me one sec. I’m just getting ready to sleep.” Scott situated himself in bed, pulling his blanket up over his shoulders. “I’m back.”

“Scott.”

“Yeah, Mitch? You okay?”

“I- I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

Scott froze. “What?”

“I don’t think I can do this anymore. It doesn’t feel right.”

“This as in- as in. Us?” Scott forced himself to take a breath.

“Yeah. Something changed; it doesn’t feel right anymore.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry. I-”

Scott waited for Mitch to finish his sentence, but it didn’t come and the silence stretched between them.

“Scott?”

“What happened to being each other’s other halves?”

“Didn’t you say that people could have more than one soulmate?”

Scott’s breath caught. “So that’s just it. Almost two years and this is just the end.”

“We can stay friends? I still care about you a lot, Scotty. You’re still my best friend in the whole world. I don’t want to lose that.”

“Yeah, okay.” Scott wiped at the tears that were starting to fall, blurring his sight of all the pieces of Mitch in his room.

“We’ll be okay?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you Monday, okay?”

“Okay. I lo- I’ll see you.”

Scott hung up, only vaguely caring about how rude it was, and let the tears fall.

~

“Hey, Scott.” Scott slowed down, letting Alex catch up with him in the hallway.

“What’s up?”

“Hey, so. I was wondering, uh.”

“I’m sure it’s fine. What is it?” Scott hoisted his backpack higher onto his shoulder.

“I was wondering if I could take Mitch out on a date. It’s been a while since you two dated, but I just wanted to run it by you, first.”

Scott forced a smile onto his face and hoped it didn’t seem to strained. “Go for it, Allie. I think he might like you, too, anyway.”

Alex’s face lit up. “Really? Thanks!”

As Alex bounded away, presumably to find Mitch, Scott curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around himself.

It still hurt so bad. Seeing Mitch was a constant reminder of what he couldn’t have. And now Alex and Mitch were going to be all happycoupleygross in front of him.

But it was all for Mitch’s happiness, and that was what mattered. More than anything.

~

“Alex asked me to be his boyfriend.”

Scott squeezed his eyes shut before turning around and making eye contact with Mitch. “That’s good.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Why do people keep checking on me?”

“Scott.”

Scott sighed. “I’m okay, Mitchy. You two are cute together.”

Mitch smiled, seemingly without meaning too. That told Scott all he needed to know.

“Don’t lie. We’re gross.”

“Okay, fine. If you insist. Y’all are disgustingly cute. But the second he does anything to upset you…”

“You’ll fight him, yeah, yeah. Thanks, Scotty.”

“Yeah, now go find your boyfriend.”

Mitch smiled at Scott again, turning and hurrying down the hallway. Scott let his head fall back against his locker, furiously holding back tears.

He was done with crying over Mitch. He was so tired.

~

Years passed. Scott got better at burying his feelings in the deepest part of his heart, locked up and chained to make sure not the slightest hint of them would ever show. Maybe he was getting better. Maybe he could move on.

And then Mitch dropped a bombshell.

“Scotty! Alex asked me to marry him! Look!”

Scott raised his eyes to look at Mitch’s hand, which had been shoved between him and his phone.

The diamond sparkled brightly, matching Mitch’s eyes when Scott finally dragged his eyes away from the ring.

“What are the red stones?”

“Rubies! Because they’re my birthstone. And the band is _platinum_.”

Scott smiled, hoped the shattering of the chains on his heart wasn’t too obvious. He’d been okay for too long to let himself spiral into a pit of self-pity again. “Only the best for his Mitchy, right?”

Mitch giggled, drawing his hand back to look at the ring himself. After a moment, he looked at Scott, still smiley and glowing. “You’ll be my maid of honour, right?”

“What?”

“‘What’ what?” Mitch frowned playfully.

“Maid of honour?”

“What? Do you prefer Best Man? Man of Honour?”

“No? Maid of honour is fine?” Scott furrowed his eyebrows.

“I was joking, Scott. You’ll have some official title; I’ll figure that out with Alex. But will you be whatever fancy title we find?” Mitch looked so hopeful.

Scott’s heart broke again. “Of course, Mitchy. I’ll always be by your side.”

Mitch beamed and threw himself into Scott’s arms. “Thank you! My two favourite boys on both sides of me; it’s gonna be the most amazing day ever.”

Scott let his arms automatically wrap around Mitch. “Of course. Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

~

The wedding was beautiful.

Mitch had decided he wanted to do something traditional, following the custom of “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”

Mitch had asked if he could borrow something from Scott, and of course Scott had let him. He’d ended up taking a pair of Scott’s old earrings, saying that they would be pinned to the ribbon of the bouquet.

Scott hated the irony. A piece of Scott got to follow Mitch all the way to the end, only to be thrown behind him as Mitch started the next part of his life.

But no matter how much he wanted to be at home, curled up in bed, he had to be here for Mitch. Mitch, who was smiling and teary-eyed and in love.

Scott watched as Mitch walked down the aisle, hand resting on Mike’s arm.

He was stunning.

Scott glanced at Alex briefly, taking in his awed face and the tears in his eyes, before turning back to Mitch to watch him finish walking down the aisle.

It had been an executive decision that Scott didn’t sing for the wedding or the reception, and honestly, he was glad, now. He didn’t think he would have been able to watch Mitch go by without reacting.

Scott took a deep breath and braced himself for the rest of the ceremony.

It would be a long night.

~

Something changed after Mitch got married.

When Mitch and Alex had been dating, and even while they were engaged, Mitch would regularly come over to Scott’s house to see how he was doing and hang out. After they got married, when Scott would text him to ask if they could hang out, he’d get a “next time, Scotty” about half the time.

Scott tried to understand. Mitch was in his honeymoon phase. Of course he’d rather stay home with his new husband doing whatever it was that newlyweds did, unpacking plates or something.

But it continued. Even a couple months later, when Scott was sure the socially accepted honeymoon phase would be over, Mitch was still just staying home, and Scott didn’t feel right inviting himself over to Mitch’s house.

So maybe it was partially Scott’s fault when they started drifting apart. They were in different parts of their lives now, as cliché as the phrase was, and neither of them was reaching out to bridge the gap.

It was wrong and horrible and _Scott hated it_.

~

Scott and Mitch had been friends forever, so it was only inevitable that their friends would overlap.

Unfortunately, that also meant that they were both invited to each wedding.

Scott couldn’t consider not going - they were his friends, too, after all - but seeing Mitch at all of them, platinum on his finger and Alex on his arm, hurt every single time.

He was so tired. He’d loved Mitch for years, but he’d lost his chance too long ago.

He’d dated Mitch too early, before they were ready to best friends and partners, before they really knew how to navigate the dating world. And he’d blown his chance.

Scott decided he hated weddings. Not only did he have to see Mitch at all of them, he would never have his own dream wedding, if he even got married at all.

~

Scott startled awake at the sound of his phone. He rolled over, planning to ignore it and go back to sleep, but the ringtone caught his attention.

Mitch was calling him at ass o’clock in the morning.

Scott hurriedly hit _accept_ , bringing his phone to his ear. “Mitch?”

“Scotty? I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?” Mitch seemed to choke on a sob.

Scott sat up in bed. “It’s okay. What’s up?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just-” Another sob. All of Scott’s protective instincts flared to life.

“Hey. It’s okay. What do you need, Mitch?”

“Can- Can I come over?”

“Of course. Can you drive, or do you want me to come pick you up?” Scott slid out of bed.

“I think I can drive.” Scott changed course from the garage door to the kitchen.

Once he was satisfied that enough water was boiling in the kettle, Scott moved to the foyer. “Okay, Mitchy. I’m unlocking the door. Just come in when you get here. I’ll see you in a bit, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Scotty.” Scott heard rustling from the other side.

“Always.”

Once Mitch hung up, Scott made some rounds around his house, getting a comforter and more pillows for the guest room bed, setting the tea to seep, and turning on the lights in the living room.

Not too long later, the doorbell rang.

Scott jogged to the front door, revealing a red-eyed, shivering Mitch.

“Oh my god, Mitch.” Scott ushered him into his house, leading him into the living room and wrapping a throw blanket around his shoulders. “Sit here. I’ll be right back. I’m just gonna go get you some tea.”

Scott picked up the mugs and made his way back to Mitch as quickly as he could. “Here. Careful. It’s still hot.”

Mitch stared at the cup in his hands. “You’re too nice to me.”

“Am not. You’re my best friend. I’d do anything for you.”

Mitch snorted. “Some best friend I’ve been. I haven’t been around and you know it.”

“That’s irrelevant, Mitch. You have your own family to worry about. It’s completely understandable. You’re still my best friend.”

“Alex wants a divorce.”

Scott froze in the middle of putting down his own tea. “He what?”

“Something about it not feeling right anymore. I don’t _know_. He was so set on it, but he wouldn’t _explain_.”

Scott’s heart ached, for both Mitch and 17-year-old Scott.

“How did you do it, Scott?” Mitch set down his mug, turning slightly manic eyes on Scott.

“What?”

“How did you get over me? When I told you it didn’t feel right anymore.”

Scott took a deep breath. “Mitch.”

“How, Scott. I need to know.”

“Mitch.”

“Please, Scotty.”

“I didn’t,” Scott whispered.

“So it just faded? How long did that take?”

Scott rubbed at his chest, hoping to make his heart stop hurting. “It never did, Mitch.”

Mitch sat up suddenly. “It never- Oh my god, Scott. You never told me.”

Scott slumped back into the couch cushions. “When was I supposed to tell you? When you had a boyfriend, a fiancé, or a husband?”

Mitch’s face crumpled.

“Fuck. I’m sorry.”

“No. It’s okay. I see your point.”

“Do you want to stay here tonight? The guest room is set up. We’ll figure out everything together, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you, Scotty. You’re the best.”

“Anything for you, Mitch.” Scott led Mitch up to the guest room and pushed open the door. “Let me know if you need anything at all.”

“Thank you.” Mitch stepped into the room. “And for the record, the only reason I broke up with you back then was because I was a dumb, scared kid. I didn’t want to ruin what we already had.”

“It’s o-”

“No, Scott, listen to me. I still think about it. I loved you so much it scared me. I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“You wouldn’t have. I loved you. I still do.”

“Yeah. But I didn’t see that, I guess. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Mitchy.”

“But-”

“It’s okay, Mitch. Go to sleep now; we can talk more in the morning. I’m in the room at the end of the hall if you need something. And sleep in as long as you need. I’ll be around all day.”

“Okay. Good night. Thank you.”

“Of course. Good night.”

Scott watched as Mitch closed the door and turned toward his own room. It was time for sleep, now. There was much to do in the morning.


End file.
